Updated: Views from the center of the ‘polar vortex’

Over the weekend on Saturday, Jan. 4, Dorrie Stanley of Safely Contracting sent in this beautiful view following a “cozy layover” Friday night at a truck stop. The following day, as the so-called “Polar Vortex” effect brought a frigid air mass down across the continental United States’ midsection, sending temps well down into negative territory, other drivers chimed in. Stay warm out there, all!

Roads were “just terrible” in Michigan, said Derek Duane, writing on Overdrive‘s Facebook page, and in Central Wisconsin as of midday temps were still tracking at -19, according to Jason Degodt. Wes Wunderlich sat in Kansas, where cold gelled his fuel overnight — “treated the fuel, but still gelled in Kansas,” he wrote.

T.C. Schwolman had it perhaps the worst. “-30 right now,” he wrote from Canada. “It dipped down to -46 last night,” with a -60 wind chill. Welcome to Manitoba.”

Reader Dan Hible and company have been “just putting up with a slight cold front” at home in Northwestern Minnesota. It was “-26 this morning,” he says.

Rod Wilson sent in this icy shot from Michigan: “good day to stay home.”

“Yep, staying home another day!” wrote Toby Heaton when he sent in this picture early in the morning from Mattoon, Ill. “Temp is -11.”

The two views above come by way of Jim Gorgone from a location in Peru, Ind., at -15 degrees. Portions of I-65 and other areas in Indiana (including all of Indianapolis) at times through the morning were shut to all traffic after the double-whammy of snow and extreme cold. Stay safe out there, drivers. Send any closure reports to us on our Facebook page and we’ll share. Alternately, hit us at Twitter here.

This last of the three preceding shots, which all came from the phone camera of driver Jeff Sirvas, was taken as the driver finally reached a rest area on an interstate near Effingham, Ill., as the road was closed.